"Prisons have the image of being isolated places that have no contact with the rest of society and are surrounded by imposing grey walls," said a public relations official at Asahikawa. "We made the character to change the image into that of a facility open to society and supported by society.""Of course, prisons are for people who have committed crimes and people tend to consider them unwelcome in their neighborhood. But society has to play its part in supporting the rehabilitation of people who have served their time."

if they want to be more family friendly they could start by letting their death row inmates know when they're going to be executed instead of basically pulling a Dread Pirate Roberts on them every day.

mongbiohazard:"Prisons have the image of being isolated places that have no contact with the rest of society and are surrounded by imposing grey walls," said a public relations official at Asahikawa. "We made the character to change the image into that of a facility open to society and supported by society.""Of course, prisons are for people who have committed crimes and people tend to consider them unwelcome in their neighborhood. But society has to play its part in supporting the rehabilitation of people who have served their time."

/spitsSounds like some kinda liberal,commie talk to me.

Wish we had more of that sort of "liberal commie" talk in America.

this

/we'd do that here in Canada too, but the Japanese have patented the mascot usage part

Dadoody Thailand is dangerous weird. Like, yeah it's weird, and it will KILL YOU if you get too close or look at it the wrong way weird. Violent and mean weird.Japan is non-aggressive cutesy weird. Mostly non-violent weird.

I do get that Japan is polite creepy weird, but I was referring to the hitler craze and related cute pop-culture weirdness.

I didn't really know about the violent dark side. Other then the alleged reputation as being the go-to place for people that like children way too much.

clowncar on fire:FTFA "Human rights campaigners say Japan's prison system is anything but cuddly, and point to often harsh conditions for inmates, including extended use of solitary confinement and spartan cells."

Because punishment is supposed to be more like time spent when the family is out on vacation for the summer and you're accountable to no one for a month or two.

In a country with a 99% conviction rate and no trial by jury and police have a month to interrogate you off camera before they even have to tell anyone you've been arrested?

The instant anyone is convicted of a crime, they're a criminal. They will never be of any use to society. Prisons are supposed to be cruel places where they're punished for their crime for an allotted time then released, but we all know they're just going right back in. Because they're criminals.

How can anyone sit by and accept this "softening" of the system? If anything, the Prison Officials should be giving those of us who AREN'T criminals new and refreshing ways to joke about prison gang rape, beatings by guards, and prisoner suicides. So we can feel better about ourselves for NOT being POS prisoners.

doglover:clowncar on fire: FTFA "Human rights campaigners say Japan's prison system is anything but cuddly, and point to often harsh conditions for inmates, including extended use of solitary confinement and spartan cells."

Because punishment is supposed to be more like time spent when the family is out on vacation for the summer and you're accountable to no one for a month or two.

In a country with a 99% conviction rate and no trial by jury and police have a month to interrogate you off camera before they even have to tell anyone you've been arrested?

doglover:clowncar on fire: FTFA "Human rights campaigners say Japan's prison system is anything but cuddly, and point to often harsh conditions for inmates, including extended use of solitary confinement and spartan cells."

Because punishment is supposed to be more like time spent when the family is out on vacation for the summer and you're accountable to no one for a month or two.

In a country with a 99% conviction rate and no trial by jury and police have a month to interrogate you off camera before they even have to tell anyone you've been arrested?

Eat a giant dick that it itself made of smaller dicks.

99% conviction rate is based upon some really sound investigating first. The Japanese simply don't take a perp into custody on a hunch or suspicion hoping to either pin flimsy evidence or find something more substantive during that holding period. They gather evidence, allow a judge to review it so that a warrant can be properly issued. Japan is about honor. Falsely accusing a perp does little to maintain this honor.

Trial by jury- that's actually something that has been introduced fairly recently to the Japanese legal system. Prior to that, you had a tribune of legal professionals review your case. Now you can opt out for the arm chair legal wannabes if that is your preference- because its always best to put your fate in the hands of amateurs.

About the time the handcuffs go on, the arrest becomes evident. Japan doesn't have a bond "release" program like we do, but on the other hand, they seldom arrest people who have not already had their case reviewed by tribunal already. Still scratching my head about the month time period you came up with. Generally if you are picked up and held, it's until your trial, or in minor offenses, you receive your fine. If you are being held for interrogation as opposed to just being arrested after a legal warrant was issued, you've either been caught in the act and evidence is currently under review by a judge, or you present a danger to society- or hold some sort of malicious intent-- and release would be unwise. Not sure who told you cameras were not present when available- or where you get the idea that all interrogations and investigations are done under the watchful eyes of a camera here in the US-- the Japanese are meticulous in gathering evidence and would probably be more open to cameras simply for the preservation of integrity in an investigation.

doglover:clowncar on fire: FTFA "Human rights campaigners say Japan's prison system is anything but cuddly, and point to often harsh conditions for inmates, including extended use of solitary confinement and spartan cells."

Because punishment is supposed to be more like time spent when the family is out on vacation for the summer and you're accountable to no one for a month or two.

In a country with a 99% conviction rate and no trial by jury and police have a month to interrogate you off camera before they even have to tell anyone you've been arrested?

clowncar on fire:doglover: clowncar on fire: FTFA "Human rights campaigners say Japan's prison system is anything but cuddly, and point to often harsh conditions for inmates, including extended use of solitary confinement and spartan cells."

Because punishment is supposed to be more like time spent when the family is out on vacation for the summer and you're accountable to no one for a month or two.

In a country with a 99% conviction rate and no trial by jury and police have a month to interrogate you off camera before they even have to tell anyone you've been arrested?

Eat a giant dick that it itself made of smaller dicks.

[robledo.fromthefog.com image 718x530]

[sunsite.berkeley.edu image 850x648]It looks like we all need to eat a bag of dicks.

No. The Japanese ran a facility known as Unit 731 (Google it up), and for that, they deserve to eat the biggest dicks of all.

The instant anyone is convicted of a crime, they're a criminal. They will never be of any use to society. Prisons are supposed to be cruel places where they're punished for their crime for an allotted time then released, but we all know they're just going right back in. Because they're criminals.

How can anyone sit by and accept this "softening" of the system? If anything, the Prison Officials should be giving those of us who AREN'T criminals new and refreshing ways to joke about prison gang rape, beatings by guards, and prisoner suicides. So we can feel better about ourselves for NOT being POS prisoners.

Step in the wrong direction if you ask me.

I don't believe prisons should be a place of undue hardship and cruelty if that's what you are implying.

They should, however, serve a duel role in the rehabilitation of prisoners.

Initially, they should serve as punishment, where the preservation of personal freedoms becomes minimalistic. The whole point of a punishment is to serve as a reminder the prisoner's lack of adherence to societal law, and is driven home through the loss of freedoms and privileges as a result. Initially, time served should be passed in reflection of one's wrong-doing free from distractions once enjoyed previous to the conviction. I do not advocate any cruelty outside of the ennui of prison life.

More importantly, prison should serve as rehabilitation. Once all but the basic rights are stripped, -not unlike military basic training I might add-- they are restored as earned privileges so that they hold more value than simple entitlements would. Restored privileges may be restored initially as choice in meals or reading materials, but would eventually graduate to longer visiting hours, work furloughs in which the prisoner can keep a portion of his earnings, and eventually earn passes to spend time with family or friends prior to their release.

In short, prisons focus should be to give one the means to re-integrate one's self with society.

The whole point of prison would be to exemplify the contrast between the deprivation of one's own freedom as a result of their criminal activities, and the value of privileges and freedom through both respect of the legal system as well as freedom earned.